Court Roundup

New York
Judge: Apple Inc. conspired to raise prices on e-books 
NEW YORK (AP) — Apple Inc. conspired with publishers to raise electronic book prices, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, saying the evidence left no doubt that the computer maker broke antitrust laws.
U.S. District Judge Denise Cote said Apple knew that no publisher could risk acting alone to try to eliminate Amazon.com’s $9.99 price for the most popular e-books so it “created a mechanism and environment that enabled them to act together in a matter of weeks to eliminate all retail price competition for their e-books.”
The Manhattan jurist added: “The evidence is overwhelming that Apple knew of the unlawful aims of the conspiracy and joined the conspiracy with the specific intent to help it succeed.”
She said damages could be determined at a later point.
Apple attorney Orin Snyder had told Cote previously that she would set a “dangerous precedent” if she concluded that Apple manipulated e-book prices as it entered the market in 2010. He did not immediately respond to a message for comment Wednesday.
The lawsuit was filed last year against Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple and major publishers. The government previously reached settlements with five publishers.
The trial had featured testimony from executives for Apple, publishers and Amazon.com.

West Virginia
Abortion provider denies allegations in patient lawsuit
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A Charleston abortion provider denies a lawsuit’s allegations that it ignored a woman’s wishes to stop the procedure and that she was improperly medicated.
Attorneys for the Women’s Health Center and Dr. Rodney Lee Stephens say in a court filing that 26-year-old Itai Gravely of Charleston didn’t tell them to stop the abortion.
Her lawsuit in Kanawha County Circuit Court also claims the doctor left the fetus’ head inside her uterus, and alleges that she told the doctors to stop when she experienced abdominal pain.
In their response to the lawsuit, lawyers for the center and Stephens say that Gravely was told that “retained fragments and tissue” could remain after the abortion, and that could lead to the need for further medical attention.
The Charleston Daily Mail reports that the response was filed Monday.
“There was no unwanted or inappropriate touching,” and Gravely underwent the procedure with “informed consent, voluntarily and of her free will,” the filing says. Nor was she improperly restrained, it says.
Gravely is represented by a team of lawyers affiliated with anti-abortion groups. Her lawsuit said she was in so much pain after the procedure that she went to a hospital, where a skull and other parts of the fetus were removed.
The Women’s Health Center said Gravely “complained of pain consistent with the experience of other women in having this procedure but not pain that was suggestive or indicative of a complication.”
One dispute in the lawsuit is how far along Gravely was. Stephens says she was nine weeks pregnant, but doctors at the hospital said she was more than 13 weeks.
At nine weeks, a fetus is three-quarters of an inch long, while it’s about 2 1/2 inches at 12 weeks.
The lawsuit is part of the reason that West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey asked the Women’s Health Center and the Kanawha Surgicenter to complete questionnaires about their practices and policies. Both declined last week but said they comply with all laws and regulations.
Morrisey has said he’ll continue reviewing the state of abortion regulation in West Virginia to ensure women’s health is protected.
The state Department of Health and Human Resources has taken no position on Morrisey’s inquiry but says that because there is no specific licensing category for abortion providers, there is no specific agency to regulate them.

Wisconsin
Court upholds conviction in police shooting 
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a man who shot and injured two Milwaukee police officers in 2009.
Julius Burton was sentenced to 80 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges related to the shooting of the officers. Burton wanted to withdraw his pleas, arguing that his former attorney and the lower court didn’t properly advise him, but a state appeals court denied his request.
The state Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously upheld the lower court’s ruling, rejecting Burton’s attempt to withdraw his guilty plea.
The officers were monitoring students leaving a high school when they saw Burton violating a city ordinance. Burton shot both officers at close range in their faces.
The officers returned to duty about a year later.

Oklahoma
Trial now set for woman accused of stealing cattle 
ASHDOWN, Ark. (AP) — A trial is scheduled for next week for an Oklahoma woman accused of stealing cattle in southwest Arkansas.
Wendi Cox appeared in court Tuesday in Ashdown where she waived her right to a trial by jury. Shreveport, La., television station KSLA reports that Cox is scheduled for a bench trial beginning Monday.
Cox is already serving a 60-year prison sentence after she was convicted in March of stealing five rodeo team horses and equipment from Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia.
In the Little River County case, prosecutors accuse Cox of stealing 15 heifers worth more than $10,000 from a ranch in October 2011. The animals were later sold at stockyards in Idabel, Okla.
Cox has said she’s innocent of the cattle theft charges.

Massachusetts
Woman acquitted in son’s hibachi grill death
DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts woman charged with killing her 8-year-old son by lighting a hibachi-style charcoal grill inside a bedroom in their apartment and then barricading the door has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.
A Norfolk Superior Court judge on Tuesday acquitted Li Rong Zhang of murder in the January 2011 death of Brandon Yang.
Authorities say the 42-year-old Quincy woman intended to kill herself and her son. They say she blocked the door and lit the grill, filling the room with poisonous fumes. The boy died of carbon monoxide poisoning. His mother, found by another family member, survived.
Multiple medical experts testified that the mother lacked criminal responsibility at the time and exhibited psychotic depression with paranoid delusions and was suicidal.(